My path to command and leadership was shaped by many factors, including my gender. That experience has informed how I approach leadership and, I believe, made me a better person.
When Commander Victoria DeVita walked into a Regina recruiting centre in 1995, she imagined a future in the cockpit. Instead, she was steered toward the Navy — a decision that reshaped her life. Raised in Indian Head, Saskatchewan, she joined the Naval Reserve, beginning a career that would take her far beyond the prairies.
DeVita rose steadily through the ranks, eventually becoming the fourth woman in Canada to command a naval vessel. As captain of HMCS Glace Bay, she led a relentless 24 hour pursuit that ended with the seizure of 2,405 kilograms of cocaine.
We got the call that there was a trafficker, a vessel with drugs on board but we would have to sail for 24 hours to chase this vessel down and intercept it. And we’d have to do it at our top speed the whole time. To get everyone on board working towards a singular goal, to do the arrest, to confiscate the cocaine … it was a great success for us. And the whole team worked together to get it done. I was very, very proud of them.
DeVita’s husband was the next to command HMCS Glace Bay. Together, they became the first and only married couple to command the same Canadian naval ship.
DeVita’s career carried her from NATO exercises in northern Europe to Caribbean missions and through the Northwest Passage three times, building relationships with arctic communities and the Canadian Rangers. Known for her resilience, adaptability, and leadership, she now serves at Strategic Joint Staff Headquarters in Ottawa, bringing her sea earned insight to national defence planning.
I like to say that prairie people make the best sailors. And I say that kind of sarcastically sometimes, but I do believe so … because we get used to seeing the horizon really far away. And if you imagine a wheat field swaying in the wind, and you turn that blue, it almost looks like the ocean.